What Process Do You Use To "Make An Offer"?

[blainelocklair]

Well, this topic kind of doesn't have a home. It's not part of FS, FA, Wanted, Free, or Member Feedback, and not General because it's not off-topic for gaming. I guess here it will reside unless one of the mods finds a better home for it, which is perfectly fine.

 

How do you go about determining a price as a buyer when a seller asks you to "make an offer"? What resources do you use? eBay sold listings? That collector price guide online (can't think of the link)? Stuff sold here on AA (although final negotiated prices are typically not posted)? Talking to other AA members? What's your workflow for determining what to offer a seller when they don't have a price listed and ask you to "make an offer"?

 

My workflow, for the most part, has been to either go on to the next for sale listing or ask the seller to just tell me what they want for their goods since they have a price in mind anyway. I'd like to find a way to do better.

 

Here's what all of this really boils down to. How does one "make an offer" that is both fair to the buyer and fair to the seller and won't hurt anyone's feelings in the process? We want to buy and sell stuff, but we should also want to treat each other fairly and courteously in the process.

 

So, what's your workflow for "making and offer"?

 

Thanks!
Blaine

[Tanooki]

If I'm forced into it, I'll go troll ebay to see what like to like stuff was paid out on, and then remove at least 15-20% off that due to not putting up with ebays final value fee abuses and the troll angle there for scammers. Normally someone says make offer, I'll tell them I'm not comfortable doing it (if I want the item bad enough) because I don't like doing insulting accidental lowballs. I'll try and engage a conversation, and if that fails, it's a want not a need, and I'm done with it. I do the same on ebay too when there's those offer boxes unless I'm being more casual whatever about it, then I just throw in like 50% of what they ask or higher depending how dumb their starting price is.

[Osgeld]

Well if someone says make an offer I won't even bother unless it's something I want, then in that case I have a general idea of what the item would sell for and how much I am willing to pay

 

Then I spout out how much I am willing to pay minus 10-20 bucks

[John Stamos Mullet]

ebay sold listings, excluding the ridiculous impulse-buy BINs at the top of the price range, and the mis-worded auctions at the bottom of the price range that people probably missd should give you a rough estimate of what to offer.

[John Stamos Mullet]

also - when I sell stuff on ebay, and I know roughly what I expect it to sell for - I put it up as a 7 day auction at 50-75% of what I expect it to sell for, with a Buy it Now of about 10% less than what I think it could get to if a bidding war ensues.

 

When selling on here in the marketplace, I shy away from putting prices on things initially, and always tell people to make an offer via PM, because there's really nothing good about someone complaining about your starting price out in public view, nor will anything good come from responding to them. Most people are reasonable and you will find good buyers who are easy to deal with, but there are a few price shamers who think everything should sell for $0.50, and if you ask too much they try to shame you into a lower price. many, but I've seen it happen. I've also seen people make super-lowball offers on ebay, and I just ignore them.

Edited December 3, 2018 by John Stamos Mullet

[+GoldenWheels]

On eBay I make the offer I feel comfortable paying. I try to avoid "insulting" offers but OTOH...that's an eye of the beholder thing. I've bought best offer items on eBay for 50+% less than the BIN price at times.

 

I always add a message to the seller, where I thank them for considering the offer, and where I point out that IF the offer is accepted (using IF so as not to be presumptuous) I always pay ASAP.

Fairness to the buyer, or worrying about hurting their feelings (outside of simple politeness which can only help me) really never occurs to me. If they don't feel an offer is fair, they can just decline it, or counter it.

[TheCoolDave]

ebay sold listings, excluding the ridiculous impulse-buy BINs at the top of the price range, and the mis-worded auctions at the bottom of the price range that people probably missd should give you a rough estimate of what to offer.

 

Yea, exactly but, you use them as a reference ONLY. I will see prices on there and I will still go 20-30% less. If they do a solid decline, I might of gone too far...if they give a counter offer, then get an good idea where your next offer should be.

 

On eBay, you get 3 attempts for an offer. So start low, go a little higher, then final is the best you are willing to pay.

 

I've made an offer on something for 50% off a handful of times... and it was agreed to. If you offer retail FIRST, you will never know if you could of gotten it cheaper.

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

Yea, exactly but, you use them as a reference ONLY. I will see prices on there and I will still go 20-30% less. If they do a solid decline, I might of gone too far...if they give a counter offer, then get an good idea where your next offer should be.

 

On eBay, you get 3 attempts for an offer. So start low, go a little higher, then final is the best you are willing to pay.

 

I've made an offer on something for 50% off a handful of times... and it was agreed to. If you offer retail FIRST, you will never know if you could of gotten it cheaper.

as an occasional seller - I can tell you that if someone makes me an offer that I feel is too low, and I decline it - then then they come back and make one that is just barely above the previous one - I just let it expire and stop responding. I'm not getting into a bidding war against my own selling price.

[Flojomojo]

Here's what I do ...

 

1. I put in the amount that I would be willing to pay. Then,

2. I click the button that says "Make An Offer."

[blainelocklair]

These are good, important inputs. I think all of this matters far more to us as AA members than just buying from strangers on eBay. Since we all coexist as fellow members of AA, I think we do have a responsibility to be good to one another. I realize we can negotiate with a mostly automated system on eBay, but when we connect with each other here, the negotiation is with a person and a fellow hobbyist. I believe the person deserves my respect when making them offers, and the value of my reputation with the members of our community far exceeds the possibility of saving a few bucks by offending someone with a lowball offer. That's why I'm interested in what both sellers and buyers think about this. "Make an offer" is so vague that it opens the door for members offending one another, perhaps unintentionally. Price shaming does exactly the same thing, just in the other direction. Establishing a middle ground of defensible, fact-based research methods can help prevent these problems and help buyers get what they want (the game stuff) and sellers get what they want (the money to buy different game stuff ).

 

Thanks for all your contributions to this topic. Keep 'em coming! Good stuff.

 

- Blaine

[Flojomojo]

Dude. They're transactions. I'm not saying we have to be nasty about it, but why bend over backwards to worry about the seller's feelings?

[John Stamos Mullet]

Dude. They're transactions. I'm not saying we have to be nasty about it, but why bend over backwards to worry about the seller's feelings?

well, an argument can be made that with the advent of instant online feedback, and arbitrary ratings systems on these platforms, you often have to go out of your way to not piss people off, so they don't neg you into "don't buy from/sell to this person" territory. Especially if you're a relative newcomer to this stuff.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

It's pretty simple for me. I go to https://www.pricecharting.com, look at the current market value for the game I'm interested in, then offer that much with shipping included. That's all there is to it for me.

[fiddlepaddle]

I don't care what the "market" value is, really, since that fluctuates so much over time, and is really quite subjective for old stuff anyway.

 

I just decide what I'm willing to pay for it, and if I think the seller might be emotional about it, I just explain it's only worth that much TO ME, even though it could very well be worth more to someone else, if they want to wait for that person. But I will buy it right now for my price, if they want to sell it.

 

They can say yes, or no, or make a counter offer. This is the essence of supply and demand.

[derFunkenstein]

Here's what I do ...

 

1. I put in the amount that I would be willing to pay. Then,

2. I click the button that says "Make An Offer."

 

Same.

 

And to address a point made by Mullet Man about selling items, all my listings get an auto-decline amount. If a prospective vulture turd put in an insultingly low bid, I never get notified and eBay tells them immediately to suck an egg.

Edited December 3, 2018 by derFunkenstein

[spacecadet]

If I'm already looking for something, that means I have a pretty good idea of what it's worth anyway. I usually just don't bother with listings that are ridiculous, even if they have a make offer option. (Let that be a lesson to sellers; if you post a ridiculous price thinking someone can just make a more reasonable offer, you're just going to get less interest.)

 

For listings in the ballpark with a make offer option, I usually just offer what I think is the average selling price I've seen for the same item in the same condition. I don't try to lowball sellers because not much good can come of it. Sure, they could accept, but most of the time they won't and they'll just decline and best case, you've just wasted a day and given someone else the chance to make their own offer in the meantime.

 

Usually if a seller's priced an item just a bit higher than average with a make offer option, I think what they're expecting is to end up selling at the average price. That's how I price things myself occasionally too.

 

If a seller's priced something crazy with a make offer option, it's hard to get in their head and figure out what they're trying to do. So I just consider it a waste of time even making an offer.

[John Stamos Mullet]

 

Same.

 

And to address a point made by Mullet Man about selling items, all my listings get an auto-decline amount. If a prospective vulture turd put in an insultingly low bid, I never get notified and eBay tells them immediately to suck an egg.

I don't sell that often, so I like to have a fairly clear estimate of how much to expect at a minimum something will sell for.

[CatsGamesWhatever]

On a classified site like Kijiji/Craigslist/Whatever if a listing has Best Offer I don't even bother offering anymore. In my experience 95%+ of the time these listings aren't serious about being sold. As in they want top dollar in their mind not what the stuff could actually be worth. I've been using these sites for over 15 years and the one constant over time is people are greedy wanting too much for their old stuff.

[digress]

I never make an offer. Put a price on it please. I usually don't haggle much either. Just please put a price on it.

[Mr. Bildo]

I've always had pretty good luck with making offers. My simple rule is offering what I'm willing to pay. I mostly buy for resale, so to me it's a numbers game and I don't have time to haggle. I make an offer and it's either accepted or not and I move on. I never accept counter offers.

 

There was an ebay console junk lot recently that had been up for a while that I thought was grossly over priced at ~$170 + $20+ shipping. It was good for me at $75, more than 50% under their list price. I made the offer, wrote I could pay immediately and they accepted in minutes. I wasn't being insulting and obviously it was good enough for them.

 

So, again, my advice is just offer what it's worth to you. You'll either get it at that price or not.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Mr. Bildo

[AMenard]

I offer what I'm ready to pay for it. It that isn't enough then I pass.

I never try to take advantage of someone so if you think I'm lowballing you I apologize but I did offer what it's worth to me.

[TheCoolDave]

On a classified site like Kijiji/Craigslist/Whatever if a listing has Best Offer I don't even bother offering anymore. In my experience 95%+ of the time these listings aren't serious about being sold. As in they want top dollar in their mind not what the stuff could actually be worth. I've been using these sites for over 15 years and the one constant over time is people are greedy wanting too much for their old stuff.

 

This is where you lose out. Non-collector people think games are worth TONS of money now for common things. They go out and try to get the MOST possible. I'll send over an offer with a reason why I think it's fair, most of the time they accept, if they decline, I walk away.

 

There are always a little of deal to be found by haggling just a little...if you feel it's too much of a hassle, then I guess it's not that important to you.

Edited December 6, 2018 by TheCoolDave

[HoshiChiri]

Dude. They're transactions. I'm not saying we have to be nasty about it, but why bend over backwards to worry about the seller's feelings?

 

Becuase sadly, there are some sellers who aren't very mature/professional about their transactions, and will use their hurt feelings as an excuse to mistreat a buyer (either the one who did the 'insulting' or the poor soul who comes along next.)

 

If it's someplace where there's an actual number listed- 'Eleventeen dollars OBO' kind of thing- I don't offer less than half. If they have an at all reasonable price listed, less than half is greedy. If it's expensive enough that more than half off is required to be fair, well they're clearly unreasonable & not likely to deal with you to begin with.

 

One exception: If a listing is older (think more than a month), I may go put up a standing offer. Basically, I tell the seller I'm interested, but the price I'm willing to pay is much lower than what they're asking & I doubt they want to sell for that- but if at some point they decide that amount is OK, they can contact me & we'll have a deal. This is a VERY rare occurrence, as it means I have to be ready to pay whatever I said at pretty much anytime, but it has worked out in the past.

 

For listings with no price at all- quite frankly, I ignore those completely. I think it's on the seller to do some research and get a starting price going. If they're not willing to go that far, I worry about how much effort they'll put into packing & shipping in a timely manner. if your item is rare/unusual enough that you can't get a good idea of what it's worth, make an inquiry thread- "I have this thing I want to sell, but I'm not sure the value, can you help me out?" You get insight into the pricing from people not currently in the market (perhaps they've bought one already) while subtly tipping off that you've got the thing to sell, so interested parties who are willing to toss out offers can get in touch with you.